The best golfer in the world stood in the 15th fairway at Muirfield Village Golf Club during the
Presidents Cup yesterday, looking like a grandpa using a club for a cane.

Tiger Woods is 37, not 80, but his balky back belongs in a nursing home. Decades of torque and a
120 mph club head speed have hardened his formerly supple sinew into a pretzel. Of the injuries
most detrimental to a golfer, a bad back ranks near the top of the list. And Woods has one.

The debilitating nature of his condition can be debated — the anti-Tiger contingent suspects him
of overdramatizing his ailments — although questioning the severity of any injury not your own
often comes off as foolishly presumptuous.

Woods’ back bothered him during what has been dubbed the Precedent Cup, a cheeky nod to the
Memorial Tournament, which has seen 40 of 150 rounds delayed, interrupted or canceled because of
weather in its 38 years of existence.

The Presidents Cup was delayed each of its first three days because of rain, creating a
start-stop for Woods that tightened his back muscles and brought additional drama to the final 45
minutes of the event.

Until about 2 p.m. yesterday, the U.S. team looked to be turning the Presidents Cup into the
Presidents Urn, containing the ash remains of International team members. The Yanks entered the
singles matches leading the Internationals 14 to 8 and stretched it to 17-10 when Zach Johnson
defeated South African Branden Grace 4 and 2 to clinch at least a tie.

The Americans needed just one more win to retain the Cup for another two years. Then things got
interesting. The Internationals won four straight matches to bring the word
choke into play for the Americans, with nasty memories of their Ryder Cup meltdown last
year in Chicago still fresh.

Suddenly, the match between Woods and South African Richard Sterne actually meant something more
than two guys playing out the string. On TV, analyst Johnny Miller echoed what people were
thinking:

“This is getting a little scary if you’re rooting for the Americans,” he said.

Then it got a whole lot scarier when Woods’ back locked up at No. 14 with his match all
square.

“It just kept getting worse and worse,” he said.

Woods has been labeled as something of a loner assassin, a player who would rather concentrate
on killing the competition in the stroke-play format that dominates 98 percent of the PGA Tour
calendar. But that description does not jibe with the numbers.

Woods enjoys turning the knife in team play, too, evidenced by his 11-4-1 record in foursomes —
which is the most team format of all — in eight Presidents Cup appearances. And he had earned the
clinching point in the past two Presidents Cup wins.

Make that the past three. It doesn’t turn him into a hero, but Woods did gain the deciding point
for the Americans after playing the final five holes with an achy back that was most noticeable
when he winced and bent over after lashing a fairway wood at No. 15.

After that, it was like watching an elderly man walk the fairways and kneel to retrieve his ball
from the cup, keeping his upper body straight to protect his back muscles.

“I was at the point where I wasn’t feeling my best coming down the stretch,” he said.

Yet he remained productive, winning No. 16 with a par to go 1-up and holding that advantage over
the last two holes.

“To have the opportunity to win the Cup for (captain) Freddie (Couples) and all the guys on the
team, it means a lot to me,” Woods said.